Sequencing of Aspergillus fumigatus strains isolated from wild birds

This study presents the genome sequences of four Aspergillus fumigatus strains isolated from wild birds in Southern Ontario. Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen, an etiological agent of the invasive Aspergillosis, which causes 1.8 million deaths yearly. Nowadays, the development of new antifungal strategies is essential for the treatment of this pathology. Thus, these strains have shown a different susceptibility to terbinafine, an antifungal drug used to treat Aspergillosis in birds. Comparative genomic analysis showed a correlation with the drug susceptibility assays. Therefore, further studies with these strains could give light to new strategies to repurpose the susceptibility to terbinafine in A. fumigatus, which is intrinsically more resistant to this drug than other Aspergillus spp.